WSU students clash with security guards
Walter Sisulu University has terminated with immediate effect a contract with a security company after four students were injured in a fracas with security guards on campus.
The four students and a guard were taken to hospital following the scuffle which, according to SRC public relations officer Asanda Mtshezi, was apparently sparked when a student was refused entry to a residence after visiting hours at the Nelson Mandela Drive campus in Mthatha on Saturday night. They are believed to have been discharged the following day.
WSU spokesperson Yonela Tukwayo confirmed on Sunday that four students sustained minor injuries after a group of 10 students were involved in a scuffle with security personnel. She said the institution had decided to terminate the contract of Globe Tech Security a few days early.
Globe Tech could not be contacted on Sunday.
Mtshezi was shocked to learn that Globe Tech’s contract had been terminated and replaced “overnight” with Metro Security.
Tukwayo said Metro Security recently won a three-year tender to provide security services for WSU.
Mthatha police spokesperson Captain Dineo Koena confirmed the incident, adding it had taken place around 11pm on Saturday.
Tukwayo said according to unconfirmed reports from the security guards 10 students allegedly broke into the security company’s room at the campus. A scuffle then ensued.
“During the clash, a firearm was discharged [by the security company], the bullet hit the ground and exploded, injuring four students and a security guard,” she said.
Koena gave a slightly different version of Saturday’s events, saying she had not heard about the accident with the gun, but the manager of the security company had reported that one of the company’s cars had been torched.
He said he was chased by angry students who assaulted him and he jumped into a taxi which was then pelted with stones.
He jumped into a taxi which was then pelted with stones